Authors Note: Yay! I finished this one so much faster than the last one. Good job brain!
Mountain coast
Simba, Turk, Timon, and Pumbaa are walking along a cliffside path in search of any hint at the location of Kovu and the poacher's cave. While Simba and Pumbaa use their sense of smell to search, Turk climbs up the cliff face for a better view, and Timon complains about the heat.
"Ugh, don't you think we should take a quick break, this humidity boiling me like an egg". Timon says while draped over Pumbaa's back.
Turk, complaining about his complaining, says back "What, your whining got ya tired?" she jumps down and starts walking over to him "How 'bout ya help look instead of hitchin' a ride your friend there"
Timon sits up to defend himself, saying "Hey I'm doing my share! I'm low to the ground so I'm better at finding small clues. But that also means I gotta walk three times as far. So how 'bout cutting me some slack, banana boy?"
"I'm a female, ya Mickey Mouse rip-off!"
"That's enough!" Simba says with force. The two quickly quiet down, after which he continues "There's a river that cuts through the mountains up ahead. We'll take a quick break, then follow it upstream."
They leave the cliffs to walk down to the small river, close to the ocean shore, and where everyone takes a drink. They rest a moment under the thin stretch of shade coming from the cliffs. Simba cleans the dirt from his paws while Turk, and both Timon and Pumbaa, always thinking with their stomachs, look for bugs. Pumbaa is inspecting a dead, dry log when he hears small bits of rock and dirt fall from the cliffs above him. When he looks up, he thinks he sees a shady figure move out of sight. He shrugs it off as his imagination and keeps on looking for food. After a short rest, the four find a way to cross the river and continue along the coast by going back up into the cliffside paths.
"Careful guys, it's getting narrow up ahead". Simba warns from the front.
Turk, who follows from the back, adds "Yeah, and the ground ain't that sturdy either. If it gets any worse we better... HEADS UP!" Just as she says that a large rock flies past her head. The first of many. "AVALANCH!" Rocks and boulders of every shape and size roar down the cliffside.
"RUN!" Simba orders.
They try to run, but the narrow path makes it impossible. Turk jumps off the side to avoid getting smashed by a rock, clinging to the crumbling cliff face. She yells to the others "Ya ain't gonna outrun this! Take cover!" Simba jumps back, narrowly missing a giant boulder that takes out part of the path with it. He slips off the side, digging into the dirt and rock with his claws to stop himself. Fortunately, unlike at the river, he's able to keep a firm hold. Pumbaa jumps back and forth, dodging the deadly onslaught until he finally makes the daring leap. Turk, who was waiting just below, grabs Pumbaa by his leg to keep him from flying too far. Timon had fallen off Pumbaa at some point in the commotion and has been scurrying for his life, and is the last to make the jump, aiming for Simbas mane.
As the avalanche slowly chips away at the cliff above their heads, Simba yells over to Turk and Pumbaa, "We need to move! We can't stay here!"
Pumbaa, having a somewhat unique point of view dangling from his leg, notices a possible safe haven. "I think I see something over there!" Pointing behind Simba close to the bottom of the cliff to what could be an opening of a cave. They move as fast as they can, being pelted by rock and dirt the whole way. They make it to the cave, dirty, bruised, but alive.
"Is everyone okay?" Simba asks while catching his breath.
"No. But I ain't dead at least." Turk sarcastically says as she puts Pumbaa down. "You alright big guy?"
"Yeah, thanks." He says stretching out his leg and shaking off the dust. "Timon, you okay?"
Timon is still clinging to Simba, but manages to say "I'll let you know once my life stops flashing before my eyes."
Simba lets out a sigh of relief, but as his adrenaline wears off, his left arm that was hurt in the river screams in pain. He hides his pain, feeling there is no time right now to worry about himself. The avalanche stops, leaving tons of stones embedded in the sand of the ocean shore outside of the cave. They pull themselves together and get ready to leave the cave. Before they do though Pumbaa discovers something in the sand that fills the cave. "Hey, guys! Look at this!"
They all gather around, noticing lines of footprints. They're older so there are few details to be found, but what is certain is that there are two species here.
Timon thinks out loud "These are human, but are they working with Zebras? What are these?"
"Maybe they caught some Zebras and brought them in this way?" Turk comments.
"If this is where they are keeping everything there would be more evidence. There's definitely something going on here though," Simba says. "Either way, we should tell the others about this."
Timon is a bit confused by this though, "Hold up don't ya think we should take a look first?"
"No, if this is them we could be walking into something extremely dangerous." He points out. "I promised Tarzan that if we found something we wouldn't do anything without him. Let's start heading back." They leave the cave and begin their way back to the Treehouse.
Right now, on the cliffs high above the cave
An adult lioness with greyish-tan fur peeks over the cliff spying on the Simba and the others as they leave the cave. She turns behind her and yells "No! They're still alive! You should have been more subtle!"
An old chimpanzee, with grey-white hair and a battle scar body, replies to her in a calm yet slightly irritated tone "It's difficult to have a subtle avalanche, child. In any case, this was your idea. I simply wanted to keep an eye on them."
The lioness, whose name is Maua, is the same lioness Vitani saw days earlier. She snarls at the chimp "Listen Jomo, Simba has been alive for too long after what he did to Scar, and this was a perfect opportunity to finally get rid of him."
Jomo, the elderly chimp, sits on the edge looking down, unafraid to turn his back on the predator. "It looks like he's hurt, he's walking with a limp. All of them seem to be a bit beaten up."
Maua calms down as she watches the tired Simba slowly walk away. "You have a point. We could probably take them in that condition. Come on, we should hurry."
"We?" Jomo questions with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, WE. This is an alliance right?" She snaps back.
"It is. However, I don't take orders from you, I follow Tublat." He turns to look her in the eyes "This alliance is between your boss and him, so I have no reason to listen to your demands."
Maua let out a frustrated snarl and says under her breath "Lazy cannibal."
"I'm not lazy, I just want to avoid unnecessary risk."
With a snide smirk, she says "But chimpanzees ARE cannibals."
"We are". He says, almost proud.
Maua stalks behind the group, slowly getting closer to them. Jomo follows from a distance, only interested in watching how things turn out, not in getting involved in Mauas vendetta. Before she gets close enough to launch her attack, she hears a loud screech overhead. She hides behind some boulders, as does Jomo, and looks for where the sound came from. She sees a large black bird, it circles around Simba and the others before landing. The bird starts talking with them, then the group begins to get excited, which peaks Mauas interest, so she sneaks closer to hear.
Jomo creeps closer "What do you hear?" he whispers.
"They found the cave, I think". She answers. "They're going to regroup and make a rescue plan."
"Hmm, we should fall back and report this."
Surprised at the suggestion, Maua quickly asks "Why?"
"Even if we could take out the three of them" Jomo ignores Timon when he says this, not considering him a threat, "we'd have no chance at stopping the bird before it takes off. A lion in the jungle working with a chimp would raise some suspicions, so by attacking them we may alert the others to our alliance. At the very least they'd start asking questions."
She hates to admit that he's right and to give up on taking Simba down, but she relents "Fine, but I still blame you for Simba still being alive."
Jomo only rolls his eyes "And I still don't care, child."
Edge of the jungle
Daja is guiding Simba's group to meet up with Vitani and the others, and she tries to fly as slow as she can because the others are still tired and beaten up from the avalanche. They're led to where they first split up with Jane's group, who are already here along with Tantor who had to stay behind. When everyone is together, they all have questions for each other, some for Daja about the cave and Kovu, and others about how Simba and the others got hurt.
Daja answers a few of these questions by telling her story, and after she finishes Jane asks "Is it possible to show us the cave now?"
She thinks for a moment, "I could, but they have patrols all over the place, and this is a big group."
Simba then says, "We can investigate the cave later, but right now I think we could all use a rest."
The Professor vehemently agrees "I should say so! I'm sure you'll be explaining just what happened to you, yes?"
Timon answers "Oh, nothing, the jungle just tried to kill us with an avalanche."
"And in the process, we may have found something." Simba adds, "Human tracks around an ocean-side cave, along with what looks like zebra hooves."
Jane thinking out loud says "Well those 'zebra' tracks could be from a horse or a mule. Humans often use them for hauling things around. But what would they be doing at the coast?"
"Perhaps those prints were left from when they first arrived and started looking for a base. Still, further investigating this matter wouldn't hurt." The Professor added.
After some quick first-aid by the Professor, they head home, completely unaware of those that had been stalking them.
Rangi Valley
Tarzan, Quinton, and the rest of his group are all in a tree, taking notes about the various creatures that have come to this valley to feed and rest in the sun. Recent evidence of predators, tracks, and a half-buried carcass that is being picked on by scavengers, and numerous sunbleached bones scattered around the area shows the potential danger of this area. This is drastically contrasted by the beauty and peace of the valley itself, with the fruit trees that line the edges, the lush grass, crystal clear water of the creek that runs through the area, and the glorious flowers of every color that give this valley its name. Oliver, Quinton's young friend, had helped Tarzan with his errand for Dumont. Tarzan is now acting as a lookout while Quinton's group works, and this is when a young Mona Monkey jumps over to speak with him.
"Tarzan! Yay, I found you! Can you help me find my friend?" The little monkey asks.
He was busy right now, but Tarzan couldn't say no to this little one. "Of course." He said with a smile "What's your friend's name?"
"Ituri, but I call her Riri. She's an Okapi." she goes on to tell him where she last saw her.
"I'll look for her as soon as I can." He says calmly, which puts a smile on the young money's face, and then she leaps away. Tarzan's mind, however, is a flurry of thoughts and questions, since the little monkey's Okapi friend is the same one that Tarzan showed Quinton a few days ago. He knows this because that spot is where she last saw her friend. Did the poachers follow them? Did they find her on their own? Is she okay? Whatever it was that happened, the situation put a scowl on his
"You okay Tarzan?" Quinton asks, "You look as mad as a cat in a rainstorm."
"I'm fine, just an uneasy feeling."
"Hmm, that fish you ate this morning did look a bit undercooked," Quinton half-jokes. He knows this isn't what's making Tarzan uneasy, but he doesn't want to pry. About evening, they start to head back, with Tarzan being especially alert, fearing any possible unwanted followers.
Authors Note: Two things I want to say, first is that for those who didn't know, yes it's true that it's not uncommon for chimpanzees to eat other chimps. They eat meat regularly, mostly monkeys or other small animals. Second, the origin of the new names. I named the chimpanzee, Jomo, after a gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo, I grew up in Cincinnati and I loved going to the zoo all the time. The name Ituri, the Okapi, comes from the forest where most, if not all, Okapi are found.